JONATHAN'S CAMPAIGN FUNDS TEARS OGUN PDP APART

Funds earmarked for President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign coordinators across Ogun State, on Wednesday, led to fracas after party officials failed to deliver the funds to the beneficiaries.

The money was to be shared at a meeting of 708 coordinators drawn from 236 wards of the state, which took place at a hotel located along Quarry Road of Abeokuta.

But the meeting, which lasted for five hours, ended in controversy after it became clear the funds were not available.

BOKO HARAM AND THE ELECTIONS.

The announcement by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, that the 2015 elections would be postponed for six weeks was not a total surprise. Several weeks earlier, members of President Goodluck Jonathan’s inner circle, particularly the National Security Advisor, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, had begun to lay the groundwork for a postponement. Their remarks focused on the deteriorating security situation in the northeastern states and concerns over the challenges faced by INEC in distributing the Permanent Voter Cards. Yet, in his press conference, Jega stated that INEC was ready to proceed on time. As he later described it, the INEC decision to postpone the vote was strictly security-based, in response to a direct request from the military and concerns that the safety of poll workers and voters in the northeast could not be assured.

SWITZERLAND SET TO RETURN N75.2BN STOLEN BY ABACHA TO NIGERIA.

Swiss officials have said the $380m siphoned off by the family of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, and confiscated by the Geneva authorities, will be returned to Nigeria. The amount is about N75.2bn at N198/dollar interbank rate.

The file on the matter, opened since 1999, would be closed, the officials said in a statement on the website of the Geneva public prosecutor’s office.According to the office, the move comes now that Nigeria and the Abacha family have struck a deal.

The Federal Government has long been chasing funds looted by the Abacha clan while the matriach was in power from 1994 to 1998.

SILVERBIRD STAFF STABBED TO DEATH MULTIPLE TIMES.

The death of Aishat Noble Mustapha, who was a staff of Silverbird Cinemas has been announced. 

Aishat was murdered on Saturday, 14th March, 2015 by an assailant who stabbed her to death at the gate of her Ogudu residence.

The Police confirmed a suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder while her remains have been deposited at the mortuary.

Investigation is ongoing.

DON'T ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE BUHARI. APC WARNS PDP.

The All Progressives Congress has called on the Peoples Democratic Party and the Federal Government to shun any plan to assassinate Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

The APC also raised the alarm over an alleged plot by ruling party to discredit Buhari.

But the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Abdullahi Jalo, has urged the APC to provide evidence of any of such plan by the ruling party to assassinate Buhari.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, told The PUNCH that the PDP-led government had security men specially trained as snipers to eliminate those opposed to President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - THE STORY

There had been no petrol in the country’s petrol stations for five months. The President was missing – and had been for months. The country was drifting aimlessly, on the brink. The country’s most powerful men and women were mostly involved in a grand conspiracy to shield the ailing and disappeared president from public scrutiny. Just as it is now, when newspapers bear little boxes counting the days since the Chibok girls were abducted, back then, the newspapers also counted how many days it had been since President Umaru Yar’Adua went missing without handing over power to his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan.

It was in those dire circumstances sometime towards the end of February 2010 – shortly after the First Lady, Turai, and her accomplices smuggled a comatose Yar’Adua back to Nigeria from Saudi Arabia in the dead of the night, without the knowledge of the Vice-President – that Chude Jideonwo, having been abroad for a few weeks, returned to Nigeria. As he writes in his book, “Are We The Turning Point Generation” (reviewed on this column on July 7, 2014), he came back with “the hope that by the time I returned, the days of spending a fortune buying fuel for my car and generator, after heavily tipping the mechanic to help join the frustrating queues, would have ended.”

NIGERIA POLICE FORCE (@POLICENG) SET TO DISMISS TWO OFFICERS WHO WERE CAPTURED FIGHTING.

TWO POLICEMEN FIGHTING

The two policemen caught on video fighting will be arrested, investigated and dismissed, the Force headquarters has said.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, told our correspondent over the telephone on Sunday that the men would face orderly room trial for their conduct.

Ojukwu said, “We have seen the video and I can tell you that the men would be identified and apprehended to face disciplinary action. They will face orderly room trial and they will be dismissed,” he stated.

EX-SPEAKER, GHALI NA'ABBA DUMPS PDP.

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, has dumped Nigeria’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

In his resignation letter dated March 15, Mr. Na’Abba, who led the legislative chamber during the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of reducing governance to a ridiculous level and splitting the country along ethnic and religious lines.

The ex-lawmaker’s letter was sent to the chairman of the PDP Sharada Ward in Kano Municipal Local Government Area and titled “Notification of Resignation from PDP, each organs and committees.”

ALFA ARRESTED FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 17-YR OLD GIRL IN LAGOS

The police in Lagos State have arrested an Islamic cleric, Abdullahi Omobolaji, a.k.a Alfa, for allegedly having unlawful carnal knowledge of a 17-year-old teenager, Idowu (pseudonym), in the Agege area of the state.

The incident happened on Bakare Lane where the victim lived with her mother and siblings.

It was learnt that although Alfa lived in Abule Egba, he had a room apartment on Bakare Lane where he received clients, who seek him out for spiritual help.

TENURE OF INEC CHAIRMAN AND THE RULE OF LAW.

Of late, some proxy waters testers, engaged obviously to run a deleterious proposition by the Nigerian public before any move to actualise the proposition, have started a campaign that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, could be eased out of office by President Goodluck Jonathan, even before the holding of the rescheduled general elections on March 28 and April 11, 2015.

According to these “legal pundits,” or more appropriately pundits of illegalities and lawlessness, by March 24, 2015, Jega, who was appointed the Chairman of INEC in June 2010, will be obliged to proceed on his terminal leave, ahead of the end of his tenure in June 2015, marking the end of his five-year tenure. This opinion has become so pervasive that the Media Assistant to the INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, has to react to it in the media. During the last chat of the President with the media, President Jonathan also reacted to it, dismissing it as an unfounded rumour. However this “rumour” is not fading. Instead it is gaining ground.

THE MORAL BURDEN OF CLEARING MR. OBANIKORO.

Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who resigned from his post as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in December 2014 to pursue his dream of governing Lagos, under the PDP, has been cleared by the Senate after his re-nomination by President Goodluck Jonathan, as part of the peace agreement following his shocking and disgraceful loss to Jimi Agbaje at the PDP party primaries in Lagos.

This comes amidst the #Ekitigate saga where he and a host of other political rogues including the present Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose forced the Military to assist in carrying out malpractices in the Ekiti elections. Most of those involved have accepted their involvement in the meeting except Sen. Obanikoro.

Below is an editorial regarding this issue culled from Premium Times.

BUHARI AND THE BURDEN OF EXPECTATIONS. - DELE MOMOMU.

Fellow Nigerians, let me confess that I do not envy General Muhammadu Buhari at this moment. I will explain what I mean very shortly and briefly. The People’s General, as I love to call him, is a victim of his own popularity. What ordinarily should have been an asset has almost become a liability, or put another way, a blessing turning to a curse. From all empirical data as well as mathematical calculations, General Buhari looks set to create a major upset on March 28, or whenever it pleases the gods of Abuja to hold the elections. A game of abracadabra is still playing out while the world is watching our shenanigans with pity or amusement or both.

The ruling party has chosen to engage in a political Russian roulette while the country speeds dangerously towards the abyss. Who are we to challenge those who see power as the beginning and the end and are incorrigibly committed to fighting to retain what they got on a platter of gold. At any rate, I am one of those subscribing to the permutations of a General Buhari victory no matter how tall a dream it seems. As a matter of fact, I’m willing and ready to place a bet that the election is not going to be as closely and keenly contested as many people think. I foresee a landslide that would make it difficult for troublemakers to practise their trade. The Buhari Movement has finally ignited and spreading at the speed of sound.

HOW THE LEKKI ROBBERY HAPPENED. (VIDEO & PICTURES).

The tragic event of Thursday, 12th March 2015 will forever linger in the memories of people in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. 

This is the day more than 12 dare devil armed robbers dressed in army camouflague attacked First City Monument Bank,(FCMB) at Plot B, Water Front Plaza, Admiralty way, Lekki, killing 3 policemen and a young female fish hawker.

Download audio & video of "Industry Diary 2014" by @Emeka_official.

Emeka presents the video to his hit jam "Industry Diary 2014" which is basically a summary of hit songs & news in the Nigerian music industry in 2014.

He put in quite an effort on this I must confess.

Download audio HERE.

Download video HERE.

VIOLENT MOB BREAKS INTO INDIAN PRISON, KIDNAP ALLEGED RAPIST AND BEAT HIM TO DEATH. #SAYNOTORAPE

Thousands of furious Indians swarmed the streets to publicly - and violently - kill a man who was suspected of being a rapist.

The pictures have emerged after they broke into a prison, kidnapped the man, stripped him naked and mercilessly beat him to death in front of a frenzied crowd.A 25-year-old believed to be part of the mob was injured when police opened fire and he later died in hospital. 

Taking justice into their own hands, the angry crowd was a terrifying portrayal of the country's increasingly aggressive stance against sexual violence. 

Graphic pictures after the cut.......

FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING 22 YR OLD YOUNG ALBINO WOMAN FOR RITUALS.

Four people have been sentenced to death in Tanzania after brutally murdering a young albino woman in order to harvest her body parts as good luck charms.

Zawadi Mangidu, 22, was killed in north-western town of Geita by a group that included her husband, who is among those due to be executed.

There is no guarantee the death penalties will ever actually be carried out, however, as the east African nation has had a moratorium on executions for the past 21 years.

The conviction comes just days after Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete promised to end a wave of killings of albinos, saying the witchcraft-related murders are shaming Tanzania.

ANGRY POLICEMEN THREATENS ELECTIONS OVER UNPAID ALLOWANCES.

Threats from some angry police officers to jeopardise the forthcoming polls, over the non-payment of their salary arrears by the authorities are perilous. The angry cops are 15,000 officers promoted from the ranks of sergeant to inspector; and from inspector to assistant superintendent of police in December 2013. Their posture is dangerous and could be contagious. This crisis should be resolved in their favour before March 28, when the presidential ballot will be held.

At a recent news conference where they ventilated their grievances, through their spokesmen, they said the authorities only paid them salaries of their new ranks beginning from January 2015, without any word on the arrears that had accumulated for 13 months. As a result, they vowed to work for the “highest bidder” during the elections. This must be cheery news for our debauched politicians who have reportedly stolen and bought permanent voter cards for rigging.

CHIBOK GIRLS ARE WELL & ALIVE - PRESIDENT JONATHAN SPEAKS

President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed confidence that the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in their hostel   in Chibok, Borno State last year are still alive.

Jonathan, who also said that his chance of winning the March 28 presidential poll was slimmer than in 2011, based his position on the fact that terrorists would naturally   display the corpses of the girls if they had been killed.

He spoke while featuring on Kakaaki, a breakfast programme on a private television station, African Independent Television.

MUSILIU OBANIKORO (@MOBANIKORO) URGED TO REJECT MINISTERIAL NOMINATION FOLLOWING HIS INVOLVEMENT IN #EKITIGATE SAGA.

A leading newspaper, Premium Times has urged Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro to honorably reject his ministerial nomination by the President following his alleged involvement in the #Ekitigate leaked audio.

Please read the piece after the cut.

BUHARI IS BACK FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM!!!!!!!

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, has returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom. He arrived Abuja Friday morning after about 10 days in London. 

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, Garba Shehu, were not successful as he did not pick calls to his mobile telephone. He did return the calls or respond to a text message to him.

Mr. Buhari’s trip to the U.K. had been a major subject of controversy as some supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan, his main challenger in the March 28 presidential election, accused him of embarking on a secret medical trip abroad.